2026 Venture 15 &
Venture Asheville Honors
December 17, 2026
@ The Orange Peel
The Venture 15 and Venture Asheville Honors is an annual award show ranking the fastest growing startups and honoring the people and organizations in the ecosystem.
Application and Nomination Deadline is November 29, 2026.
Join us for the big show on December 17th, 2026 at 6PM in The Orange Peel
Venture Asheville grows Asheville’s startup community and connects high-growth entrepreneurs to talent, mentors and investors through unique programming and events. The Venture 15 and Venture Asheville Honors is our annual end-of-year party where we announce and rank the 15 fastest growing startups in the area and award Entrepreneur, Mentor, Investment Deal of the Year, ESO of the Year, Best Startup to Work for, The Shining Rock Award and the Venture Asheville Vanguard Award.
Let the dance parties, networking, good food and drinks begin! With Jeffrey Kaplan & Matt Godfrey as your hosts, you can expect to hear from our sponsors, winners and finalists all wrapped up in one creative program, along with a few surprises. Buy your tickets now and join us for an exciting, fast-paced evening of awards. Doors open at 6:00 pm, and the show starts at 7:00 pm.
Venture 15 Awards recognize the 15 fastest growing Asheville-area startups. This event celebrates the area’s outstanding entrepreneurs, and it serves as an elite setting where they can share their talent and wisdom as well as offer inspiration to other fledgling companies to be part of this exclusive group.
VENTURE 15 AND VENTURE ASHEVILLE HONORS ELIGIBILITY
Venture 15 Eligibility:
Startups must meet both of the following criteria:
- Have been in business for two years or more as of October 1, 2026, and
- Have had verifiable annual revenues of $150,000 or more every year since calendar year in 2024, or for the past two full fiscal years
Founders or company owners must operate businesses in either Buncombe or Haywood Counties
Venture Asheville Honors Eligibility:
- Venture Asheville Honors are open to any individual or organization in the Asheville-WNC region
- Strong applications will demonstrate high impact and going above-and-beyond what is expected
- Individuals and Organizations may not self-nominate
Venture Asheville Honors Categories:
- Entrepreneur of the Year
- Mentor of the Year
- Deal of the Year (joint award between investor and founder)
- Entrepreneurial Support Organization of the Year
- Best Startup to Work for
- The Shining Rock Award
Venture Asheville Honors
We can’t do the Venture Asheville Honors without you. We need you to make the nominations for the people and organizations that make this ecosystem run.
- What entrepreneurs are making it rain in this wild year?
- What mentors have been there for you?
- What investment deal shines? Where have you seen an exceptional pairing of investment and founder that should be held as an example to follow?
- What resource or Entrepreneurial Support Organization helped you get through this year?
- What Startup is the best place to work?
- And who is an up-and-comer we need to know? (that’s the Shining Rock Award)
Nominations for the 2026 Venture Asheville Honors are now OPEN.
The deadline to apply is November 29th.
Venture 15 Awards
The Venture 15 awards the 15 fastest-growing Asheville-area startups. This event recognizes the area’s outstanding entrepreneurs, and serves as an elite setting where they can share their talent and wisdom as well as offer inspiration to other fledgling companies to be part of this exclusive group.
Startups are measured by their Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), using year-end revenues. This is a valuable measurement to view a venture’s growth rate over time, and allows us to use one metric to compare all ventures.
Applications for the 2026 Venture Asheville Honors are now OPEN.
The deadline to apply is November 29th.
Thank you to our Presenting Sponsor, DMJPS LLC for accepting the applications and confirming CAGR’s for our companies.
Required Information
- Venture Asheville reserves the following rights:
- (1) To independently verify that nominees and applicants meet all criteria;
- (2) Reject any nominee or applicant for any reason;
- (3) Modify requirements as needed without notification.
To identify the 15 fastest growing Asheville-Area startups, the Venture 15 will be ranked by compounded annual growth rate (CAGR).
Companies will be asked to provide baseline financial information about their organization via tax returns that will enable calculation of its CAGR. To ensure and maintain confidentiality, all financial documents will be submitted to and maintained by our independent accounting partner. These documents will not be shared with Venture Asheville, its partners, or its personnel.
Forms accepted by this partner to verify sales or revenues (net of returns) include ONE of the following:
- (1) Audited or reviewed financial statements by an external CPA firm (i.e. auditors signed opinion letter) for the years 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, etc…, or your most recently completed two fiscal years.
– OR –
- (2) The business’ signed U.S. Income Tax Return for the years 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, or your most recently completed two fiscal years (forms accepted: 1120, 1120S, 1065, Schedule C).
Revenues and other provided financial information will not be published with the Venture 15 list. The list will include the company’s name, location, leadership and CAGR.
When defining startups, we consider a company’s orientation towards growth, capital, or an exit event. But truthfully, if you have to ask if your company is a startup, it probably isn’t. Still wondering? Email Jeffrey for more clarification.
Startups (companies, corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships) must meet both of the following criteria:
- Have been in business for two years or more as of October 1, 2024, and
- Have had verifiable annual revenues of $150,000 or more every year since calendar year in 2024, or for the past two full fiscal years
Founders or company owners must operate businesses in either Buncombe or Haywood Counties
Best Startup to Work For
You can also consider this a Company Culture award. Arguably, the best culture makes the best place to work, so we look at a host of qualitative and quantitative metrics to determine the winning startup.
This award is decided by the same selection committee that decides the Venture Asheville Honors. There are two parts to the application. The first part should be completed by someone in leadership at the startup, because we want to know:
- How many people does this startup employ, and what are the salary ranges?
- What perks do you offer employees (time off, flex work, childcare policies – be as creative as you like)?
- What benefits are offered to employees (retirement, 401(k), insurance, FSAs, etc.)?
- Does your company have an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, revenue-share with employees, or similar?
And a few more questions. The second part is testimonials from employees, which are simply emailed in. The application and instructions are all found at this link.
Applications for the 2026 Best Startup to Work For are now OPEN.
The deadline to apply is November 29th.
Winners are selected by the Venture Asheville Honors selection committee based on the leadership application and employee testimonials.
2026 Presenting Sponsors
View Previous Winners
